Freelancer: Racer's Trials
by Taylor Rendar
Summary: Tayls and Lily are en route to their mission location, while Verne just barely makes it out alive from the Hood, before his home is destroyed by an unknown attacker. As he escapes to Leeds, Tayls and Lily are cornered by suspicious fighters in Magellan!
1. The Adventure Begins

**Author's Note- **Greetings all! It's been a while, but I figured that it was time for me to update with a new story, since I lost my drafts for the others… :( Oh well. Live and learn. Anyway, this is a story about one of my favorite space travel games for the pc from the geniuses at Microsoft and Digital Anvil. It is a game called Freelancer. Anyway, this story is about a young racer and his adventure through the Sirius sector and his trials during the events from story mode. Don't worry; you'll see all your favorite characters later. Anyway, let's get rolling!

Freelancer is Copyright by Microsoft and Digital Anvil!

**Chapter 1- **Start of the Adventure

Taylor "Tayls" Rendar was making some normal maintenance runs on his ship, Tri-Edge, a prototype Border World Class Y Heavy Fighter. It had superior battleship plating with a scarlet color scheme, turned on a dime, and could mount his handmade class 11 guns. He had built 2 class 11 AZURE BLADE Gatling Gun styled lasers on the top of the bladelike wings and he had placed 2 THOR'S HAMMER Class 10 cannons on the side of his cockpit. Under the main chasse of the ship, he had placed a Hornet Cruise Disruptor missile launcher that could stop enemies from getting away by jumping to cruise speed. At the top of the hatch that opened the windscreen of the cockpit, he placed a Barrager Mk III turret to handle the tough enemies that might sneak up on him. After that, he had a seeker mine launcher to take care of pursuing enemies, and an Advanced Countermeasure Launcher to blind enemies if he needed a quick getaway. Lastly, he reapplied the sideways A symbol on the side of the hull, so everyone knew what ship it was.

After checking that all weapons were online, he opened the hood of the engine to check that the internal propulsion equipment was functioning properly. His custom Rheinland thruster which emitted cool green flames out of the exhaust plate at the back of the ship was functioning perfectly. His Advanced Cruise Engine was also in the green. After checking his Champion Heavy Fighter Shield Mk II, he closed the hood and then put his tools in the small container in the cockpit behind his plush driver's seat. He sat down for a second, looking at the gauges to check the energy charge, saying that conversion of the space particles is at full efficiency, and then he checked up on the comlink radio to make sure he had full signal bars. Since his inspections were complete, he jumped out of the cockpit, locked the hatch, and proceeded to the bar for some gossip and perhaps a job or race opportunity.

As he entered the bar, a soft ragtime piano piece met his ears. He walked over to Verne, the barkeeper, and a close friend. "Hey Verne, can I get the usual?" he said placing some credits on the counter.

Verne turned around. "Ah! Of course Tayls, a Sidewinder Fang, as usual." He nodded to the redhead teenager as he prepared the fizzy spice drink. "So, how's Tri-Edge? It ready?" the mustachioed man of 30 years and tutor to some of the best racers in the whole system asked of the skinny teenager.

"Ready? For what?" Tayls asked, staring at Verne with his light yellow eyes, that some people rumored could see into your mind and soul.

"Why, your big race of course! You haven't forgotten your race with Hovis, now have you, boy?" Verne chuckled as he passed Tayls the drink.

"Ahh, yes. That's right, I'm racing that blowhard today. Tch! He shouldn't be too difficult, as I already cleaned out Dumas and Aeros." Tayls said mentioning two of the top racers at the Battleship Hood Race Track.

"Well, let's just say Hovis doesn't like to lose, and sometimes won't play by the rules. Watch yourself." The barkeeper said with a shrug while cleaning out some glasses from other customers.

"Hmph! You worry too much, Verne! Tayls will be fine. He always pulls through." A voice came from across the bar.

Both turned and saw a female bounty hunter coming their way. She had long black hair with blone highlights that she kept in a long ponytail that reached down to her midback. She was wearing a blue jumpsuit with a gold flower imprint on the back. She also had gray boots and a tan bandoleer crossing her chest.

"Hey Lily, you just get back from another mission?" Tayls asked the pretty 19 year old as she sat next to him.

She looked at him with her violet eyes, something Tayls had a tiny weakness for, since they were so full of understanding and empathy. "Yep. We got a good haul this time too. It was another one of those freaky Mollys. They were attacking a Kruger base near the Omega 7 Jumpgate." She said with a sigh. "I know diamonds are valuable, but since they live in a gold field, why bother stealing the diamonds? It makes no sense…" she said shaking her head, and ordered a Moon Twist, a tart citrus drink she liked.

"Well the Kruger Diamonds make great focusing tools for lasers, they improve damage quality and range." Tayls explained since he just read a book about it.

"Yeah, but the gold they have makes their shields so strong…. It's a pain trying to drain them in time to get some hull damage in…" Lily sighed.

Tayls noticed that she was looking a bit pale, probably from all the missions she had to go on, since she was the top ranked Bounty Hunter in Bretonia, she was always in demand. She needed some time for herself too, he reasoned.

"Anyway, on a lighter note, I heard that you have that big race against Hovis…" she said looking at Tayls with a half-smile.

Tayls knew she didn't like it when he raced, after all, racing in an asteroid field is dangerous, and with any tricks that Hovis might pull, this was all the more lethal. He greatly appreciated that she was trying to look out for him, but he figured it was nothing.

"Yeah, it's tomorrow. It should be fun, after all, I love what I do, just like you do." He said with a confident smile.

She looked at him for a second, then leaned over and hugged him tightly. "Just be safe. Don't take risks that don't seem in your favor. Keep to the inner circle, and you should be able to clinch victory." She whispered in his ear, then let go, paid for her drink, then walked off to her quarters for some well-deserved sleep.

Verne stood there chuckling. "You two do look nice together, I'll tell you that." He said with a goofy smile at Tayls. "She's a sweet girl, and she does have the best interest at heart for you. Make sure you don't let her down." He said sternly, as Lily was his niece.

"I'll keep that in mind. Anyway, it looks like it's about time to get some shuteye too." Tayls said to himself, said goodnight to Verne, and then left to go to his quarters.

He opened the door to his small, but still somewhat comfortable room. He had several racing medals and pictures from close call races. As he pulled off his blue mechanic trenchcoat and Green T-Shirt and Black jeans, he looked at himself in the mirror, he hadn't eaten lunch today, and the skipping meals was starting to catch up, he was already somewhat unhealthily skinny, but it suited him fine, he'd make it up by having a big breakfast, after all, Verne made some killer waffles. He kicked off his gray Chuck Taylor Sneakers, pulled on a white sleep shirt and blue shorts, and hopped into his comfy plush bed for some shut-eye before the big race, as dreams of victory and adventure came to his subconscious as he drifted off to sleep.

**A/N- And that's a wrap! I wonder what will happen with the race tomorrow? Will Tayls be victorious as he assumes? Or will his overconfidence be the grounds for a new lesson? Find out next time!**


	2. The Race

**Author's Note- **Hello everyone! I hope you liked the previous chapter, and here is the moment you've been waiting for!

Freelancer is Copyright of Digital Anvil and Microsoft!

**Chapter 2**- **The Race**

Tayls woke up early, since his anticipation wouldn't let him sleep any longer. He pulled on his usual attire, then brushed his teeth and then proceeded to the bar.

"Mornin' Tayls! You're up early, but I guess you would be today!" Verne said with a friendly smile.

"Yep, today's the big day. By the way, can I get some waffles?" Tayls asked.

"Why, for the soon to be, best racer at Battleship Hood? Of course you can my boy! Have some blueberry waffles, just imported the fruit this morning!" Verne said laughing.

"Thanks Verne!" Tayls said and dug in to the warm and fluffy tartness of the waffles to build up his strength.

After breakfast, he headed to the docking bay and hopped into the cockpit of Tri-Edge, then proceeded to request a launch. The bay engineer acknowledged his request and opened the airlock, allowing Tayls to fly outside.

In the bar, Lily watched him fly off to meet up with Hovis from the large bay window. "Please, Tayls … be safe." She whispered.

"Alright, Hovis, I'm here, so let's get started, eh?" Tayls said through the comlink.

"Ha ha ha! You got it kid. It'll be a shame to see you burn, but hey, that's the price of sportsmanship!" Hovis laughed over the frequency.

"I may surprise you Hovis, I've beaten everyone else, and you're all that's left." Tayls said smugly.

"We'll see soon enough, won't we kid?" Hovis laughed again, as the two ships pulled up to the first ringlike structure, used as the starting gate to the large circular track.

"You know the rules kid. One lap. No shootin' or bumpin'. You ready?" Hovis asked.

"Bring it on old man." Tayls said confidently, and grabbed the joystick steering control tightly.

"Welcome Racing fans! Today we have a special match for you! Long-time racing champ Dexter Hovis, verses the new kid rising through the rank, Tayls Rendar! Place your bets and make it quick!" Verne, who doubled as the racing commentator boomed over the radio frequency.

As the countdown of the clock began, both racers revved their engines, trying to beat the other for the first jump.

"3 … 2 … 1 … GO!" the digital readout flashed as both racers gunned their cruise engines and rocketed through the gate.

"Hovis takes the early start, but Tayls is right behind him! This is gonna be one hot race folks! The opponents are neck and neck for the lead!" Verne yelled this and other various comments as Tayls shut him out and focused on the track, and avoiding the asteroids.

About at the first checkpoint, a fourth of the way through the tracks, Hovis's Cruise Engine's suddenly failed and he slowed to a stop. Tayls took this lucky chance and zoomed on by, taking the lead.

"Damn damn damn! Divert fuel and power to cruise engines! I can't lose this race!" Hovis swore in his cockpit; as he got the cruise engines started again and zoomed on to try to catch up with Tayls.

Tayls meanwhile had made it to the second checkpoint and had started through the clear part of the track, however, racers had to be careful because there were explosive gas pockets near invisible to the naked eye all around the track here. Luckily, Tayls had memorized where they were and was able to somewhat avoid them, as he kept to the inside of the track, like Lily suggested.

Hovis wasn't so lucky. He stumbled right into a gas pocket and the explosion damaged his right wing and blew the gun right off. As he saw Tayls pull past the third checkpoint, he decided it was time to pull out his ace in the hole. "Alright boys! Show yourselves and give this kid something to think about!" Hovis yelled over a secure channel.

Tayls was a few rings short of the goal, when several laser shots collided with his shields. A cruise disruptor penetrated his engine, and disabled his cruise engine, returning him to normal speed while Hovis quickly gained up.

Ignoring the fighters, Tayls gunned his afterburner, and streamed on, knowing that missiles had no effect on the after burner, which could match the speed of the cruise engine closely.

As the two ships pulled up on the final gate, Hovis rammed into Tayls's ship, causing him to go into a spin, however, his starboard gun just barely grazed the finish line before Hovis's hood, earning him victory of the race after all!

"Noooooooo!" Hovis screamed defeated.

"Ha! That's what I call lucky! Cheating nets you nothing old man!" Tayls said triumphantly, as he did a barrel roll out of excitement.

"And Tayls wins it! We have a new champion folks! Let's hear it for Tayls Rendar!" Verne yelled over the comlink as many cheers were heard in the background.

"Grr…. Not bad kid. I guess you earned the title after all." Hovis said with amazement at how well the kid handled himself even though he was in excruciating odds.

"Thanks Hovis. Perhaps next time, you won't need to cheat." Tayls said with a smile, although you couldn't see it over the intercom.

Both ships flew back to the Hood, and as soon as Tayls got out of the cockpit, he was slammed into the hull by a practical glomp from Lily.

"You did it! That was so cool!" She said happily while hugging him tightly.

"Erm, thanks Lily." Tayls said with a bit of red in his cheeks, as she took the hint and let go.

"Come on! Uncle Verne and everyone are waiting at the bar for a celebration!" she said pulling him along to the bar.

As he entered the bar, Tayls was swarmed by handshakes and pats on the back. No one had ever beaten Hovis, which had made the old man smug and treat everyone like dirt, but after being beaten by a teenager, he let off, and went to the Omega 7 system, to check up on his merchant business.

Lily went over to the corner, where she was approached by a man in a smart business suit. "Your friend has quite the pilot skills, as you have the eagle eye target abilities. You two would make a great team for a mission." He said to her.

"Ah! Um … well, we've never actually gone on a mission together before…" Lily said embarrassed while looking at her 17 year old friend across the bar, getting into a song with some of the other racers.

"Well it just so happens that I have a mission offer for you two. If you are interested, meet me in the hangar bay by your ships. After all, the Autumn Bloom is known for its extreme firepower, and Tri-Edge is known for its incredible speed and handling, plus the ability to mount custom weapons. The two pilots have their own legacies as well." The man said with an impressed tone.

Lily watched him walk off, and was somewhat interested in the mission, since she was feeling a bit bored anyway. "Besides, maybe a mission with Tayls will be fun. It'll be just like when we would play together as kids…" she said giggling to herself quietly, then walking over to join the victorious racer for some more celebration.

**A/N- I wonder what the mission could be? And why is Lily embarrased about taking a mission with Tayls? Find out in the next Thrilling installment of Racer's Trials! Also, if you would like to enter a character, send me a pm with a description of your character, occupation, and your ships name and design.**


	3. The Attackers

Author's Note- Hey everyone

**Author's Note-** Hey everyone! Here we are with another chapter! It's time to find out about this mission that the business man was talking about! What perils await our two heroes this time?

Freelancer is © Microsoft and Digital Anvil

Chapter 3- The Unknown Attackers

After the party at the bar had ended, it was early in the evening, and Tayls and Lily were walking around on a stroll through the Hood. The battleship had seen better years, sure, but it was still home.

"Say Tayls, I got an offer for a mission for us. What do you think? Maybe if we tag team, we could be the best duo in Sirius!" Lily said excitedly, looking at Tayls with earnestness.

"Hmm… well I could use a break from racing. Ok, so where is this mission offer?" Tayls asked her.

"He said that if we were interested, we should meet him in the docking bay, near our ships. I'll meet you there; I have to grab something real quick. Also, we might be gone for a while. I know you've been working on some more weapons and shields. I'd suggest you grab the containers and store them in my ships Cargo Bay. By the way, those TIGER LILY lasers you gave me work like a charm. Thanks!" She said, and then ran off quickly.

"Man that girl sure has a lot of energy… oh well, I guess I'll grab my stuff and stow it in her ship." Tayls said with a shrug and then proceeded to his room, grabbed all his containers of weapons, tools, blueprints, and unfinished projects. He also grabbed a few sets of clothes. Just because Lily had a self-cleaning jumpsuit from her vast money stores doesn't mean that an engineer like him could afford the same luxuries. After setting the containers in the Bloom's Cargo Hold and locking them down with chains in case Lily accidentally pressed the eject cargo button again, he proceeded to wait for Lily and the mission briefing.

Lily proceeded to her room quickly and then grabbed a small, concealed package from her vanity chest's top drawer. She opened it slightly, marveling as the crimson glow from within calmed her nerves. She had found this treasure on a trek into the omicron systems, near a weirdly constructed battleship that seemed to be made from a blue organic material. She would've stayed longer, but the radiation in the system was eating her ships hull like termites through wood. She took the object out and looked at its ancient beauty.

It was a crimson jewel, cut in a star pattern, and trimmed around the center with a gold ring with ancient lettering on it. At the tip of each star point, there was a platinum cap with more symbols on it. She held the object close to her chest and breathed deep. This was her treasure, a token of deep space's mysteries and treasures waiting for those who would take the risk of exploring it. She hoped more than anything that she could see the wonders of the universe together with a certain redheaded racer. She blushed slightly as she thought about him, then realized she was supposed to meet him in the docking bay for their mission! She hurriedly put the jewel back into it's container box, which she then slipped into an internal pocket of her jumpsuit, keeping it close to her heart, like a picture of Tayls and her as children, happily playing together. She relished those memories just like the artifact, and vowed to protect Tayls on this mission if the need arises, so that they can make more memories together.

As she dashed out of her room after grabbing her pilot's shades, she ran into Uncle Verne, and then bade good-bye, and told him that she and Tayls would be back in a few days. He smiled and waved her off, saying he'd hold down the battleship while they were gone. She quickly got onto the loading elevator and told it to take her to the loading bay, praying that she'd make it before the mission briefing, as showing up late shows a lack of experience.

Tayls saw Lily come running up to him, and stood next to him while they waited for the mission briefer, who came in through the bar door a few minutes later. Tayls recognized his uniform as a Kusari Samura Industry uniform. Which would mean they were probably leaving into Tau 31 or one of the omega systems. No wonder Lily said to take along all his stuff. They could be gone for up to a week on this trip!

The commissioner bade good day to both of them then got down to the point. They were actually heading to the Magellan System, a known Lane Hacker system! They were to hunt down a rogue fugitive, known as Blitz Tyson. He was an Outcast Veteran Pilot who had been preying on their shipments of Ocular chips for quite some time, and it was getting to be a bother, since Freeport 1 was a large buyer, and was the only Zoner base in the system. In exchange for their services, a bounty of 12,000 credits would be given to them, which meant 6,000 credits each! They both accepted the mission and then got into their ships and prepared to take off…

Meanwhile, across the system, in the asteroid field near the old Gas Miner's Guild station, the Glorious, which had been abandoned for years, a weird Jump Hole was ripped in the space. A strike force of several, odd-looking blue fighters, made of some organic material emerged from the makeshift hole, which vanished behind them. They translated over the comlink in a weird, unknown language. They would wait for a few minutes, and then strike the Battleship Hood, where a reading of one of their missing artifacts seemed to have emanated from a few minutes before…

Tayls and Lily launched into space, and then after checking their mission waypoints they proceeded to launch their cruise engines and travel to the Jump Gate near the edge of the system. After identifying themselves to Border Station Braum, they docked with the Jump Gate, whisking the two to the Leeds System. After arriving, they took a Trade Lane to Leeds, and Tayls said he knew a shortcut to Magellan that they could use to get there faster. It was located in the smog cloud behind the planet. Both of them entered Cruise Speed, and then located the Jump Hole on the fringe of the cloud, and took it to the Magellan System.

Verne had just jumped into his ships cockpit, it was a basic Cavalier light fighter, but it suited him fine. He was headed to the Leeds system to visit with an old friend of his named Tobias, who ran the equipment shop there. He proceeded to launch into space and dock with the Trade Lane, to whisk him to the Leeds Jump Gate. As he docked with the Jump Gate, a large explosion blossomed behind his ship, as his home, the Hood was blown to shrapnel in the wake of space. In too much shock more than anything else, he saw a squad of weird looking blue ships launch missiles at the Jump Gate, blowing it up right behind him as he jumped to Luminal Speed and was the last one to ever see the Dublin System ever again…

When Verne emerged from the Jump Gate, he docked with the Trade Lane, and then took the Docking Ring down to Leeds, where he slowly set his ship down on the landing pad near Tobias's equipment shop. He slowly staggered into the equipment shop, and then rang the bell for the dealer. Tobias came running around the corner, saying he'd just heard the news and was thankful that Verne was all right.

The balding chubby man ran a hand through his light brown hair. "I don't know what happened out there. You say these blue fighters suddenly came in and simply blew all the bases to scrap?" Tobias asked Verne, who nodded.

"Yes! It was awful! I think Tayls, Lily, and I are the only three who made it out… I thank all the powers that be for letting us go, but still, all my racing buddies, some of my best friends, died on that station… this is a dire time, Tobias." Verne said shaking his head, as his friend tried to comfort him as best as he could…

Meanwhile, Tayls and Lily just emerged from the Jump Hole to find a small squadron of Rheinland Valkyries waiting for them. "What are Rheinlanders doing in the Magellan system?" Tayls asked Lily over the secure channel.

"Attention Rheinland ships, this is Veteran Bounty Hunter Lily Zelfos. Please state your business and destination, over." Lily transmitted to the ships, who maintained radio silence. "Rheinland vessels, please respond… over." She tried again. Still nothing but silence.

"Tayls, I don't like this, make sure your guns are ready…" Lily told Tayls over the secure line.

Suddenly the fighters zoomed forward and opened fire on the two ships…

**Author's Note**- **Hooray for cliffhangers! HA HA HA! Anyway, who are these unresponsive ships? What do they want with our heros? Will they be shot down before their mission starts, and what is that weird artifact of Lily's? Find out next time on Freelancer: Racer's Trials!**


End file.
